I read this book about a year ago and found that Dee Jepsen gives a very objective view of our Blessed Mother. I am a male Catholic and I felt that Dee has done a magnificient job of expressing the feelings only a mother could have about her child. The relationship most people have about Mary I feel is incorrect and Dees' Book is great for a Catholic or Non-Catholic reader to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship.

I find this book to be very inspirational and insightful to John Paul II's, one of the holiest men alive, knowledge and understanding of our Blessed Mother in the Catholic Church today. The author has taken 17 different titles of Mary and taken many different speaches, writings, etc and put them together to show JPII's desire for us to know who Mary is and what she does for us. I really took a great deal from this book as I not only use it as a prayer meditational, but also as a refernce helping me to grow in my devotion to Mary.

This book is very good. I recommend to all faithful. Read, soak it in and pass it on.

Excellent book and source of reference as well as a reminder. I personally been to Medjugorje and then I came across this book along with other books - Medjugorje The Message, The Mission and the Final Harvest. The interesting thing is I've to agree all the contents in those books because it's true and Medjugorje is definitely heaven on earth and a place where keep you dreaming about it all the time.

This book is an excellent study of the Mother of God! Although I am a seven-year convert to Orthodoxy, I still had a difficult time developing a relationship with her because I didn't feel that I knew her very well. This book really helped me to understand her on a much deeper level, to appreciate who she is, and to discover why she is to be honored (but not worshiped, which is for God alone) among Christians.

The book details her entire life within Holy Tradition, and presents the reader with the fullness of the Orthodox teaching on her through beautiful Orthodox hymnography, as well as commentaries from the Holy Fathers about her. The icons included are beautiful (but unfortunately, in black and white and not color) and instructive. Although the book is the Orthodox teaching on the Mother of God, it can be a wonderful resource for anyone that wants to know more about her and wants to enter into a closer relationship with her. I think it covers every aspect of her life, and is a tremendous resource.

St. Bernard's prose style in these four magnificent homilies aspires to the beauty and mystery of its own subject: Mary, Queen of Heaven. The homilies contained in this tiny 60+ page book could be described as efflusive theological songs. Almost every other word out of St. Bernard's mouth comes from the pages of Scripture. As the handy introduction of this particular printing notes- Bernard is of course associated with the full flowering of Marian devotion of the twelfth century but it should not be an exlusive bond in comparison with other popular Marian devotion or with the entire corpus of Bernard's work.
Theologically these Homilies have value in their skill and beauty of incorporating the Scriptural typological understanding of Mary as a whole. Bernard is not here proving that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant he is espousing that self-evident fact. But I find that these meditations are perfect for devotional reading and even prayer. They are homlies that are perhaps only secondarily adressed to the reader but often seem to be adressed to Mary herself.
Overall this book is a welcome addition to your devotional shelf and also a jewel in the crown of Marian literature- both devotional and theological. Highly recommended for slow and meditative reading.

This book is not only well written, it is full of great primary sources. I am doing doctoral work on Mary Magdalen and it has been very helpful in my research.

We received this book as a gift for my 12-month-old. He loves the sing-song rhythm. Some nights we read it over and over again because he's not interested in any other book. I love the book because it ends with "Jesus loves you also and will always be with you."

Fr. de la Potterie presents an intellectually challenging, and faith-building study of Mary's role in God's holy plan for our salvation.

His approach is refreshingly different from the unsatisfying fundamentalist approach, and the dry historico-critical approach.

The book gives *invaluable* insights to the common Marian issues. After reading it, you will be able to see clearly (and explain to others why) that in John 19:25-27 Jesus gave Mary to be our spiritual mother. You will know why 'Hail, full of grace' is a more faithful translation than 'Rejoice, highly favored daughter.' You will understand the issues as to who the woman in Rev. 12 is. You will be thoroughly exposed to the various scriptural NT texts that give light to Mary's unique role in salvation history. (All these is true even after you've read other books about Mary, and think you know all the scriptural issues, as I thought I did).

There is no lack of references to the OT texts as well.

The book is rich -- every page bursts with insights and learning. It is very technical but readable. It can be light enough to read on a plane, deep enough for really serious study, and reverent enough for even devotional reading (its readability is accomplished without recourse to humor at all).

The author leads you through the Greek texts, and alerts you to the various nuances and plausible conclusions. Unlike other scholars, this one has a spine. He takes a stand and does not stop when there are forks in the road. He explains why he took this road and not that one (and also mentions respected people who took those other roads).

This is truly one of the gems in my personal library, and I am enthusiastic about recommending it.

Catholics can find a tremendous resource in this book about Mary. Non-Catholics will benefit from the insights they would never have access to if they read only within their faith-circle. Both will be encouraged and instructed at the way the inspired texts are exposed and studied.

Read this book with scripture in hand, and see scripture come alive once again.